Ingredients
1¾ cups plain flour, plus extra, to dust
1⁄3 cup Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener Icing Powder or icing sugar, sifted, plus extra, to dust
200g unsalted butter, chopped, chilled
1 free-range egg yolk
1/3 cup water, chilled
¼ cup hazelnut or almond meal
1 free-range egg, beaten
Fruit mince
180g mixed fruit, roughly chopped
150g currants
¼ cup mixed peel
1 apple, peeled, coarsely grated
¾ cup Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener Golden or raw caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp each ground cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg
¼ cup brandy or sherry
30g unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup finely chopped roasted hazelnuts
Method
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To make fruit mince, combine all ingredients, except hazelnuts, in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours, stirring occasionally.
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Put flour, icing powder or icing sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process to combine. Pulse in short bursts, adding yolk and water a little at a time, until mixture comes together and begins to form a ball. Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Flatten to a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C conventional). Dust bases of ten 10cmW x 2cmD loose-bottomed flan tins with flour. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick. Cut out ten 11cm rounds, re-rolling offcuts if necessary, then line tins with dough, pushing into fluted sides. Trim edges.
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Using 5, 4, 3 and 2cm starshaped cookie cutters, cut out stars from pastry offcuts.
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Sprinkle pastry cases with hazelnut meal. Stir hazelnuts into fruit mince and strain to drain excess liquid.
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Spoon fruit mince into each pastry case and smooth surface to sit 3mm below rim. Arrange stars on top. Brush stars with beaten egg.
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Put pies on a wire rack over an oven tray (this helps bases cook evenly for a crisp result). Bake pies for 35-40 minutes, loosely covering in foil in final 10 minutes if over-browning. Stand in tins for 30 minutes. Dust with extra icing powder or sugar. Store up to 1 week in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Be mindful that you will need to soak the fruit in these mince pies 1-2 days in advance.